The next social revolution
Mobile communication, pervasive computing, wireless networks, collective action.
Bibliography
View by Chapter: Smart Mobs and the Power of the Mobile ManyTitle: Activists Use Wireless
Author: D. Ian Hopper
Publication: M-Business Daily
Publication Date: 1/19/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: An article about how technologically-adept "mobs" were using various CMC tools to organize and document their protests at the Washington, DC inauguration of U.S. President George W. Bush. Tools included: SMS (Upoc), video and audio broadcasts to a potential world-wide audience, email lists and chat for organization, digital cameras and handhelds for documentation of police abuses, and mobile phones and handhelds to organize and communicate during the event.
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation, Handhelds, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Upoc, hacktivists, protests, CMC tools, Resistance
Title: The TXT MSG Revolution
Author: Richard Lloyd Parry
Publication: Independent Digital (UK) Ltd.
Publication Date: 1/23/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: "In revolutions people used to say, 'keep your powder dry.' Now they say, 'keep your cellphone charged.'"
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Philippines, revolution, texting, coup, Filipinos, Alex Magno
Title: Task Forces: A New Kind of Community?
Author: Dan Shafer
Publication: Online Community Report
Abstract or Excerpt: Groups or communities of distributed mobile people can coordinate their endeavours by using virtual wireless community platforms like Upoc.
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation, Handhelds, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Task Force Communities (TFCs), Upoc, communities, convergence
Title: The Resistance: A Wireless Demonstration
Author: Dan Shafer
Publication: Online Community Report
Abstract or Excerpt: Article briefly covers Sander Hicks, a leader during the U.S. presidential inaugural protests in Washington, D.C. in 2001. Quotes Hicks on the ease with which he was able to create a community of people (calling themselves "The Resistance") both in the field and online to gather and disseminate information.
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Sander Hicks, community, resistance, Upoc
Title: The Cell Phone and the Crowd: Messianic Politics in the Contemporary Philippines
Author: Vicente Rafael
Publication Date: 5/20/2002
Abstract or Excerpt: A large cross-section of Philippine society gathered to demand the resignation of President Joseph "Erap" Estrada after his impeachment trial was suddenly aborted by the eleven senators widely believed to be under his influence who refused to include key evidence that would have shown the wealth he amassed from illegal numbers game while in office. The impeachment proceedings had been watched avidly on national TV and listened to on radio. Most viewers and listeners were keenly aware of the evidence of theft and corruption on the part of Estrada and his family.[4] Once the pro-Estrada senators put an abrupt end to the hearing, however, those watching TV or listening to the radio were moved to protest in the streets. Television and radio had fixed them in their homes and offices watching and listening to court proceedings. But at a crucial moment, these media also drew them away from their seats as spectators to become part of a crowd that had formed around a common wish: the resignation of the president.
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation, Handhelds, Mobile Phones, SMS
Keywords: texting, Philippine, smart mobs, mania, Generation Txt, People Power II, Mumford
Title: Text messaging becomes a menace in the Philippines
Author: Arturo Bariuad
Publication: The Straits Times, Philippines Bureau
Publication Date: 3/3/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Text messaging becomes a menace in the Philippines.
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: messaging, texters, Philippines, Estrada, Manila
Title: Black Flag Over Seattle
Author: Paul de Armond
Publication: Albion Monitor 72
Publication Date: 3/2000
Abstract or Excerpt: Welcome to Seattle Washington, as dawn rises on Tuesday, November 30, 1999, and about five hundred members of law enforcement prepared for duty. Sharing their own moments of stillness are about 35,000 protesters plus 15,000 members of organized labor. The police are outnumbered 10 to 1.
Title: Cell Phone Craze May Be Key to Philippines' Future
Author: Benjamin Pimentel
Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
Publication Date: 2/11/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Philippines is a nation of texting, even using the technology to overthrow a government.
Subjects: Activism, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Philippines, texting
Title: Cell-Phone Text Messages Unite Protestors
Author: Adam Brown
Publication: Associated Press
Publication Date: 1/20/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: The beep of a cellular phone sounds the rallying cry for the text brigade, the tech-savvy Filipinos who have taken the fight against President Joseph Estrada into cyberspace.
Subjects: Activism, Mobile Phones, SMS
Keywords: smart mobs, texting, Filipinos, Philippines, Estrada
Title: Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global Intelligence
Author: George Dyson
Publication: Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997
Title: The swarming body
Author: Jesper Hoffmeyer
Publication: Paper presented at the 5th IASS congress in Berkeley, June 1995
Publication Date: 6/1/1995
Abstract or Excerpt: A swarm has been defined as a set of (mobile) agents which are liable to communicate directly or indirectly (by acting on their local environment) with each other, and which collectively carry out a distributed problem solving. The body can be understood as a swarm of cells and tissues which, unlike the swarms of bees or ants, stick relatively firmly together. However, the swarm of cells constituting a human body is a very different kind of swarm from that of the social insects. The body swarm is not built on ten thousand nearly identical units such as a bee society. Rather it should be seen as a swarm of swarms, i.e., a huge swarm of more or less overlapping swarms of very different kinds. And the minor swarms again are swarm-entities, so that we get a hierarchy of swarms. At all levels these swarms are engaged in distributed problem solving based on an infinitely complicated web of semetic interaction patterns which in the end can only be explained through reference to the actual history of the body system, evolution.
Subjects: Cooperation
Keywords: Swarm-semiotics, semetic interaction patterns, Swarm Intelligence (SI)
Title: What is Swarm Intelligence? Why would society need it?
Author: Josephine Maisonet
Publication: Dr. Bernie Domanski's CSI/CUNY Website
Publication Date: 4/30/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Modeling the social organizations and behavior of ants and other social insects, computer scientists have been able to create software agents that mimic these social insects. An agent is something that perceives and acts. In the field of artificial intelligence, one of it's aims is studying and construction of rational agents such as robots that are programmed to do certain tasks. But why study and model after such insects that live in colonies? They are fascinating in their own right, but how can this knowledge be any use to computer scientists? Why do the following questions need to be answered in respect to insect colonies? What is it that issues orders? How does it foresee the future? How does it elaborate plans and preserves equilibrium?
Subjects: Cooperation
Keywords: social organizations, social insects, ants, honeybees
Title: Antiglobalization Activists Rely on the Enemy's Technology
Author: Sara Schaefer
Publication: The Wall Street Journal
Publication Date: 7/5/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: In a sparse, cavernous office in an immigrant Brussels neighborhood, antiglobalization crusader Han Soete sat back, took a sip of water from his tumbler and swept his arm toward the icons of the corporate values he spends most of his time fighting. On one desk sits a Hewlett-Packard printer. Nearby is a Compaq computer loaded with Microsoft software. "It's a very pragmatic choice," says Mr. Soete, referring to the modern technology he and his independent media group, Indymedia, use to spread their campaign against multinationals and a host of issues. Mr. Soete and several hundred other Internet-savvy activists in Europe and the U.S. are the organizing force behind this summer's European-wide protest tour that brought thousands of demonstrators to Gothenburg, Sweden, last month. The protests forced attendees of the European Union summit to evacuate their hotels and brought parts of the city to a standstill.
Subjects: Activism, Cooperation
Keywords: globalization, demonstrators, summit, Han Soete, Protest.net, Rideboard, Summer of Resistance
Title: Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action
Author: Elinor Ostrom
Publication: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990
Title: 4 Sme, Txtng is Lyf
Author: Anne Torres
Publication: TheFeature
Publication Date: 4/18/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: The Philippines could be the world's text messaging capital, with reportedly 50 million text messages sent out every day.
Subjects: Handhelds, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: texting, Philippines, messaging, Filipinos, Bot Jocano
Title: Tracking Celebrities Via Cell Phones, Web Sites
Author: Diego Ibarguen, The Associated Press
Publication: San Francisco Chronicle
Publication Date: 1/21/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Upoc is a free, easy, wireless service connecting you to your friends, your interests, the world - whenever and wherever. With Upoc, your mobile phone is more than a phone and your pager is more than a pager. You can use them to send text and voice messages to groups and individuals, and you can get up-to-the-second information on the events, places, and people you're interested in. "From one end of the city to the other come the bulletins from amateur celebrity seekers, posted by cell phone, pager or other device to an online forum called "nyc celebrity sightings." For celebrity hounds who want instant notification, text messages on sightings can be flashed to a wireless pager."
Subjects: Location Sensitive Devices (LSD), Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Upoc, texting
Title: Threshold Models of Collective Behavior
Author: Mark Granovetter
Publication: American Journal of Sociology, 1978, 83(6), pp. 1420-1443
Abstract or Excerpt: Models of collective behavior are developed for situations where actors have two alternatives and the costs and/or benefits of each depend on how many other actors choose which alternative. The key concept is that of "threshold": the number or proportion of others who must make one decision before a given actor does so; this is the point where net benefits begin to exceed net costs for that particular actor. Beginning with a frequency distribution of thresholds, the models allow calculation of the ultimate or "equilibrium" number making each decision. The stability of equilibrium results against various possible changes in threshold distributions is considered. Stress is placed on the importance of exact distributions for outcomes. Groups with similar average preferences may generate very different results; hence it is hazardous to infer individual dispositions from aggregate outcomes or to assume that behavior was directed by ultimately agreed-upon norms. Suggested applications are to riot behavior, innovation and rumor diffusion, strikes, voting, and migration. Issues of measurement, falsification, and verification are discussed.
Subjects: Cooperation
Keywords: collective-behavior, norms, outcomes, threshold
Title: Friend of a Friend Finder
Author: Nelson Minar, Alexandros Moukas, Pattie Maes and Jason Baron
Publication: MIT Media Laboratory, Agents Group
Publication Date: 10/13/1997
Abstract or Excerpt: Networks of friends are the backbone of society. Friends provide us with personal contacts, recommendations, and the feeling of living in a community. The Friend of a Friend Finder (FFF) is a software agent that keeps track of your friends by noting with whom you correspond, with whom you meet, and who is in your address book. A decentralized system, FFF's power lies in the communications among people's personal agents. Your agent can ask questions of your friend's agents, who in turn ask their friends' agents, thereby extending the reach of friendship networks through friend of a friend connections. Utilizing such inter-agent communication, your agent answers questions like: "Do any of my friends know people in New Orleans?" or "Does anyone know this person who wants to meet with me?" Since information about your friends is very private, a major goal of FFF is to allow some communication with other agents while protecting privacy. updated, December 19, 2001
Subjects: Cooperation, Privacy, Reputation Systems
Keywords: social networks, Friend of a Friend Finder (FFF), software agent, MIT, Patti Maes, Nelson Minar
Title: "Mad Wing" cyber girl gang arrested
Author: Kyodo News
Publication: Japan Today
Publication Date: 8/8/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Police on Tuesday arrested five teenage girls who are members of a virtual motorcycle gang formed via the Internet, on suspicion of assaulting a member in June who tried to leave the group. Those who were arrested are the 16-year-old gang leader living in Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, and four girls aged 16 to 18 living in Tokyo and neighboring Chiba and Kanagawa prefectures, the police said.
Subjects: Handhelds, Japan, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Mad Wing Angels, i-mode, DoCoMo, Shibuya Epiphany
Title: "The Social Mind," in Origins of the Human Brain, eds. Jean-Pierre Changeux and Jean Chavaillon
Author: Bernardo A. Huberman
Publication: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995
Title: Negotiating Use: Making Sense of Mobile Technology
Author: Alexandra Weilenmann
Publication: Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Volume 5, Issue 2 (2001), pp 137-145
Abstract or Excerpt: This paper reports from a study of the ways in which a group negotiated the use of a new, mobile technology. The group was formed of ski instructors who during a one-week ski trip were equipped with a mobile awareness device called the Hummingbird. The group was studied using ethnomethodologically inspired qualitative methods, with the focus on the group members' different views of the Hummingbird's intended use. Negotiations of use occurred using two methods: talk and action. The users negotiated issues such as where and when to use the technology, and whether to consider the Hummingbird a work tool or a gadget for social events. Further, the empirical results clearly show how negotiations of new, mobile technology differ from stationary technology.
Subjects: Mobile Phones, Wireless
Keywords: negotiations, norms, mobile CSCW, awareness, ethnomethodology, ethnography, mobile awareness device, Hummingbird, Nintendo Gameboy
Title: Of Frantic Calls and Rigid Rules
Author: Elisa Batista
Publication: Wired News
Publication Date: 9/13/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: The dramatic, surreptitious calls made by passengers aboard Tuesday's hijacked commercial planes were illegal and under "normal circumstances" technically impossible to make. However, because the planes were close to the ground and the calls were kept brief, the calls went through, a major cell phone carrier said.
Subjects: Mobile Phones
Keywords: WTC, World Trade Center, terrorism, FCC, hijackings
Title: The Simple BlackBerry Allowed Contact When Phones Failed
Author: Simon Romero
Publication: New York Times
Publication Date: 9/20/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: "BIG WTC explosion. I'm going to street. I'm scared." That was Lynne Federman's frantic e-mail message to her husband a few seconds after the first hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Ms. Federman, a corporate lawyer, was in her office at J. P. Morgan Chase, three blocks from the trade center, punching the message into her BlackBerry pager. "What??" her husband, Joseph Korb, wrote back on his BlackBerry from Newark, where he was on jury duty. "Seems helicopter crashed into WTC," Ms. Federman replied. "Going to street now. Very scary. End of world." Like many people in the aftermath of that chaotic Tuesday morning, Ms. Federman and Mr. Korb found that telephones and cellphones worked only sporadically. So they communicated with each other in terse text messages for several hours as Ms. Federman, covered in ash, fled on foot from Lower Manhattan.
Subjects: Handhelds, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: WTC, BlackBerry, Terrorism
Title: For Cellphone Holdouts, Worry Closes the Sale
Author: Julian E. Barnes
Publication: New York Times
Publication Date: 9/19/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Several wireless telephone companies said yesterday that sales had increased after the terrorist attack. It is too early to compile reliable figures, but AT&T Wireless (news/quote), Verizon Wireless and Nextel all reported anecdotal evidence of an increase in cellphone sales late last week and continuing through yesterday.
Subjects: Mobile Phones, Wireless
Keywords: WTC, terrorism, safety
Title: Telecom workers team with rescuers to search for cell phone signals beneath rubble
Author: Genaro C. Armas
Publication: Seattle Times
Publication Date: 9/14/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Telecommunications experts are monitoring cellular phone records and trying to detect signals from handheld electronic devices beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center. Volunteer workers from communications companies are using directional antennas and other radio-frequency tracking equipment to "sniff out" signals from cell phones, beepers and other devices, said Karl Rauscher of the Wireless Emergency Response Team.
Subjects: Mobile Phones, Wireless
Keywords: WTC,
Title: Epi-Sender
Abstract or Excerpt: Epi-Sender is a free emergency messaging service. The idea is that Epi-Sender will allow you to send a quick status message to everyone on your emergency message list, with a minimum of keystrokes. It is primarily intended for senders with internet-capable mobile phones. Messages can be sent to any valid email address.
Subjects: Handhelds, Japan, Mobile Phones, Wireless
Keywords: Tokyo, Epi-Sender
Title: Lovegety
Abstract or Excerpt: Japan's ultimate matchmaking tool of the electronic age, the Lovegety.
Subjects: Handhelds, Japan, Mobile Phones, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Lovegety, Dating, matchmaking
Title: Networks, Netwars, and the Fight for the Future
Author: David Ronfeldt and John Arquilla
Publication: First Monday, Volume 6, Number 10 (October 2001)
Abstract or Excerpt: Netwar is an emerging mode of conflict in which the protagonists - ranging from terrorist and criminal organizations on the dark side, to militant social activists on the bright side - use network forms of organization, doctrine, strategy, and technology attuned to the information age. The practice of netwar is well ahead of theory, as both civil and uncivil society actors are increasingly engaging in this new way of fighting. We suggest how the theory of netwar may be improved by drawing on academic perspectives on networks, especially those about organizational network analysis. As for practice, strategists and policymakers in Washington and elsewhere have begun to discern the dark side of the network phenomenon - especially in the wake of the "attack on America" perpetrated apparently by Osama bin Laden's terror network. But they still have much work to do to begin harnessing the bright side, by formulating strategies that will enable state and civil-society actors to work together better. This paper is largely drawn (with updates added) from Chapter 10 of our forthcoming book, Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (RAND, 2001), which will also be available online soon at www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1382/.
Keywords: WTC, swarming, social networks, netwar, social network analysis
Title: Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy
Author: John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt (editors)
Publication: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001
Title: Staying in touch through two hours of hell
Author: Dan Verton
Publication: Computerworld Inc.
Publication Date: 9/14/2001
Abstract or Excerpt: Upoc's 911 story.
Subjects: Cooperation, Mobile Phones, New York, SMS, Wireless
Keywords: Upoc, WTC, Sarah Roche